Uliastai (; ), also spelled Uliyasutai or Oulia-Sontai, and sometimes known as Javkhlant, is a city in
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
located in the western part of the country and from the capital
Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...
. Uliastai is the capital of
Zavkhan Province and was the 10th most populous city in the country with a population of 24,276 (2000 census). However, recent estimates have the city's population at 16,240 (.) making it the 16th most populous city in Mongolia.
Uliastai is located in a river valley where the Chigestai and Bogdiin Gol rivers meet, and is surrounded by mountains on all sides. It is one of the most remote aimag capitals in Mongolia. Uliastai city has
''sum'' (district) status and forms an enclave within the surrounding
Aldarkhaan ''sum''.
History
Alongside
Khovd, Uliastai is one of the oldest settlements in Mongolia, and has long been an important center of
caravan trade even into the 20th century. It was connected by camel caravan routes with Urga (now
Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...
) in the east,
Khovd in the west,
Barkol and other points in
Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
in the southwest, and
Hohhot
Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...
in the southeast.
The city was founded as a military garrison by the
Manchus
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...
in 1733 during the
Qing rule of Mongolia. Uliastai was the ''de facto'' capital of
Outer Mongolia
Outer Mongolia was the name of a territory in the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China from 1691 to 1911. It corresponds to the modern-day independent state of Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. The historical region gained ''de facto'' ...
, as the Qing
Amban
Amban (Manchu language, Manchu and Mongolian language, Mongol: ''Amban'', Standard Tibetan, Tibetan: ་''am ben'', zh, t=昂邦, Uyghur language, Uighur:''am ben'') is a Manchu language term meaning "high official" ( zh, t=大臣, p=dàchén ...
, the Governor General, located its office in Uliastai to keep eye on the
Khalkh Mongols to the east and the
Oirad Mongols west of the
Khangai mountains
The Khangai Mountains form a mountain range, range in central Mongolia, some west of Ulaanbaatar.
Name
Two provinces of Mongolia are named after the Khangai mountains: Arkhangai (North Khangai) and Ovorkhangai (South Khangai). The mild climat ...
. Thus, the position was also known as the
Uliastai General. At its peak, the fortress held up to 3500 soldiers and was surrounded by a Chinese trading quarter, or "Maimaicheng".
In March 1755, a
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
army departed from Uliastai as the vanguard in the
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
's final push against the
Dzungar Khanate
The Dzungar Khanate ( Mongolian: ), also known as the Zunghar Khanate or Junggar Khanate, was an Inner Asian khanate of Oirat Mongol origin. At its greatest extent, it covered an area from southern Siberia in the north to present-day Kyrgyz ...
to the south west.
During the
Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1911 the Military Governor of Uliastai, his staff, and military guards, fled the Uliastai fortress under the protection of Cossack troops. Traces of Manchu rule can still be seen in Uliastai: the stone remnants of the governors fortress near the Bogdiin river are a short walk from town, the shackles and torture devices used by the Manchu are on display in the History Museum, and a
khatag-laden stone near the central roundabout is carved with Chinese characters.
Climate
Uliastai experiences a
cold semi-arid climate
Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''BSk'') with long, dry, very cold winters and short, warm summers.
Education
Uliastai is host to the Zavkhan branch of the
National University of Mongolia. Originally established in 1974, it was granted the status of a full member of the NUM in 2010.
Administrative divisions
The district is divided into six
bags
A bag, also known regionally as a sack, is a common tool in the form of a floppy container, typically made of cloth, leather, bamboo, paper, or plastic. The use of bags predates recorded history, with the earliest bags being lengths of animal s ...
, which are:
* Bogdiin Gol
* Chigestei
* Jargalant
* Jinst
* Tovtsog
* Ulziit
Tourist attractions
Museums
* Museum of Famous People – dedicated to former residents of Zavkhan aimag, the museum has artifacts from the lives of Mongolian prime ministers, presidents, generals and Buddhist saints (Хутагт).
* History Museum – Zavkhan's natural and cultural history museum.
Monasteries
* Togs Boyant Javklhant – located on a hilltop overlooking the Chigestai river, just north of the main street, this temple features a traditional Mongolian
ger, several
stupas
In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...
and a large
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
statue.
*Ochirpurev Tsogt – A small
Nyingma
Nyingma (, ), also referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by PadmasambhavaClaude Arpi, ''A Glimpse of the History of Tibet'', Dharamsala: Tibet Museum, 2013. ...
temple on Main street near the museums.
Javkhlant Tolgoi
Next to Togs Boyant Javklhant temple, a hilltop pavilion surrounded by statues of elk, ibex, and
argali
The argali (''Ovis ammon''), also known as the mountain sheep, is a wild ovis, sheep native to the highlands of western East Asia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Altai Mountains.
Description
The name 'argali' is the Mongolian language, Mongolian ...
sheep. It's a quick hike from the center of town, and offers a good panorama of the city.
Transportation
The old
Uliastai Airport has two unpaved runways and is close to the city, but no longer receives flights. In 2002, the
Donoi Airport (or "New Uliastai Airport") was built 25 km west of the city near Aldarkhaan soum, and now serves Uliastai with regular flights to and from Ulaanbaatar.
References
External links
Manchu Dynasty Government Structure, 1691–1910 University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
{{Provincial capitals of Mongolia